The presence of lignin impedes enzymatic hydrolysis of carbohydrates by blocking access of cellulose and
irreversibly binding hydrolytic enzymes. Negative correlation between the percentage of lignin in plant material
and its enzymatic digestibility [21], thus the lignin removal is essential in order to improve the enzymatic
hydrolysis of EFB. Three delignifying agents were selected i.e. sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium chlorite
(NaClO2) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at 2.0% (v/v) concentration. NaOH was found to be the most effective
agent as it showed the highest percentage of delignification (41%) as compared to other chemicals tested i.e.
NaClO2 (20%) and H2O2 (11%) (Fig.1). Thus, NaOH-treated EFB was selected for subsequent enzymatic
hydrolysis.